Typically, the doors or tailgate of a vehicle, particularly a motor vehicle, are pivotally connected to the body structure by means of two or more hinges. Usually, these hinges have one plane of adjustment between the hinge and the body structure and one plane of adjustment between the hinge and the door or closure. Because the hinge is normally first attached to the closure and then to the body structure, there is only one plane of adjustment unless the fasteners, which have already been tightened, are released and then re-tightened. This release and re-tightening process often introduces errors in the positioning of the closure and is also time consuming and disruptive in a production line environment.
EP-A-1094184 shows a hinge assembly which attempts to overcome the above problems. The hinge assembly includes an adjustment nut, a locking screw, and a hinge member. The adjustment nut comprises a clamp face, which faces one side of a flange on the vehicle body structure. The locking screw has a head, which can clamp onto the other side of the flange, and a shank, which extends through the flange and engages an internal screw thread in the nut. The nut also has an external screw thread which engages an internal thread in the hinge member and thus provides an adjustment means in the axial direction of the nut. However, when the screw is tightened to clamp the nut to the flange, the hinge member remains loose on its threads on the nut. Although the hinge member cannot rotate, this looseness can, over a period of time, cause fretting corrosion and other problems which would not arise if all components were firmly clamped.